Distressed Embossing Technique + Blog Candy Winner

Big, big news! I got my very first card commissions!! Huzzah! I know I practically have the market cornered out here in North Dakota (yes, that was a population-based joke), but I haven't really tried to break into selling cards just yet. 

Don't get me wrong - I have heaps of cards stored up in my craft room and I PLAN to sell them (probably through some local boutique shops) but there are some other things I should probably do first. Like get a tax id number and packaging and make an online shop. Do you sell your creations? If so, you should tell me all about it in the comments. I'll take any advice I can get.

But anywho, back to the card!

For the commission, I was asked to create a card for a friend who was having some health problems. She wanted something that said "Feel better, Thinking of you, or You're perfect just the way you are". 

Lightbulb! I think she threw that last sentiment choice in there just for funsies, but I actually DID have a sentiment that said just that from the Wendy Vecchi Passion for Art stamp set. 

I began my creation by stamping the vintage lady profile using Vintage Photo Distress Ink

The reason I love Distress Inks so much is because they are water based and you can do all sorts of cool techniques with them. Rather than leaving crisp, clear lines of ink, I used a water brush and painted around the edges to give it that soft quality you often find in vintage photos. 

Next, I wanted to create a vintage frame to go along with the image. Today I'm going to share with you the result of an experiment that actually turned out! I die cut a frame on my Cricut and then I dabbed it with Picket Fence (white) Distress Paint.

 While the paint was still drying, I covered it with Liquid Platinum embossing powder. I used my heat tool to melt it and:

Ta-daaaaa! I'm definitely going to use this technique again because it looks so aged and worn and perfectly distressed! I'm definitely pleased with the result. 

I put the whole card together and added a big ol' flower from Prima Marketing to complete the look.

I LOVE this card! I'm sending this over to the following challenges:

Make Art Challenge - Use Embossing Powders and Wendy Vecchi products
Fashionable Stamping Challenge - Glitz and Glamour
Sketch Saturday - thanks for the awesome sketch! 

 

Oh - and I almost forgot! A blog candy winner is in order! Congratulations to Rebecca Yahrling! There were over 250 entries into the giveaway and your name was randomly selected! Rebecca - I can't seem to find your blog (your profile links to a google plus account that has no additional info on it!) So I hope you see this or someone who knows you sees it and tells you about it! :D

One last final PSsssssst: STAMPlorations is gearing up for their 2nd birthday!! They're going to be doing a blog hop from June 29 - July 3 and giving away over >>>$100<<< worth of prizes. So mark your calendars and go follow the STAMPlorations blog so you can be informed!

Thanks for popping by! Follow my blog or leave me a comment and I would be oh-so-grateful!

Featured Friday!!! - Georgie Connelly

Hello my friendly friends! Firstly, I'd like to say a big thank you to those who left comments on my last card. Reading through YOUR stories about country life and the great outdoors had me feeling nostalgic and (I'll admit) a little bit misty-eyed! That's why I love the bloggyland - there are so many of you who just make me so happy with your comments and your inspiration.

Speaking of inspiration, if you're new here I'll let you know about a little thing I do called Featured Friday. Once a month I feature a crafter I've met in the blogosphere and share a little bit about them with YOU! 

This month's featuree is:

Georgie Connelly of Little Blue Craft Box! 

Georgie is a hop, skip, and a jump over the pond from me and hails from England! When it comes to mixed media projects, Georgie takes the cake. Her work is textural, romantic, and ethereal and I'm always inspired after a visit to her blog. She knows how to work embossing paste and Prima flowers like no other! 

But why tell you about Georgie when she can give you much better insights herself? I asked Georgie 7 questions about her crafty life. 

How did you get your crafty start?

Ive been 'arty' in some form or another all my life, but this recent addiction started quite quietly about two and a half years a go, about six months after my son was born. Then about a year and bit later I started my blog, I was in deep at that stage and I knew then it was a point of no return! :) Heaven forbid anyone makes me go cold turkey now - I'm sure I wouldn't survive, art is my life!!

If you could be any craft supply, what would you be and why? 

This is tough... there are so many yummy goodies to choose from! But picking one…. I'd be gesso, then I could be covered, from corner to corner, in all my favourite supplies!! ;)

How do you handle mistakes in your work?

Hmm, really depends on what I'm working with, most mistakes I embrace and can bodge/fix with a happy outcome. If I'm working with water based paints and I mess up with colour from the off then they get canned. I've really not worked out a way to rescue them without it resulting in mess. Generally gesso is my life saver.

What are your favorite card making/scrapbooking challenges?

Lindy's Stamp Gang Colour Challenge 

Dusty Attic Mood Board Challenge 

Prima BAP and Colour Board

Country View Challenges

Mixed Media Monthly Challenges

Craft Stamper TIMI

Generally I find the mood boards very motivating as they're open to interpretation and if your mojo is a little low they can give you a great boost!

What's your best organizational tip for crafters?

I'm not really sure I'm qualified to give out this sort of advice, have you seen my crafty space??! :)  The best I have is reels of double sided tape hooped around my lamp. However, it is all about to change, so I -cough cough- plan to be far more organised in the future!! 

Where do you find inspiration for your designs?

Everywhere really! I love Pinterest, Google, books... Even the simplest photo of household paint swatches for colour gets my brain whizzing! My son is my biggest source of motivation for scrapbooking, as I love layouts! But ultimately my arty crafty friends are hugely inspirational and so very talented! There’s always something new to learn or products to try, so this keeps me buzzing!

What's the best piece of advice you could give to new bloggers?

I'd say try to get yourself 'out there' as much as possible. It took me ages to realise this and feel brave enough to enter challenges, comment on blogs (I was a watcher for ages) but once you do you won't look back. The online crafting community has to be the best out there for support, be it art or otherwise. If you're unsure about something, contact another crafter - they are so happy to help and so lovely (this is what I did, and I wouldn't be here now if I didn't). Ultimately, as with anything in life, you get back what you put in so don't be afraid to make the first move! :)

_______________________________

When reading through Georgie's answers, I had to giggle about the organizational question. My craft room could use some work, too (and by some work, I mean a professional organizer and a dump truck) (ok... it's really not THAT bad) :) 

In my Featured Friday posts, my featuree and I always pick a past piece of their artwork to CASE. Georgie works on altered art, scrapbooking pages, and cards so I had a bevy of inspiration to choose from. 

After pouring through Georgie's blog, I finally settled on a gorgeous, saturated scrapbooking layout.

The Original

I fell in love with the seashells, the texture and the ethereal beachy feel. It truly is a masterpiece, and it helped Georgie win one of her very first Prima Marketing competitions!

Georgie's CASE

Did anybody else's jaw just drop to the floor, or was it just me! WOW! I didn't think very much could improve on the original, but the monochromatic feel and gorgeous textures definitely matched the spirit of the original to a T!

My CASE

As you can see, I had inspiration overload from Georgie's gorgeous original!! I didn't have any drywall tape or cheescloth, so I made do with some products found around my home. I gessoed a mesh potato bag to create the "drywall tape" and I used a leftover dried up baby wipe to create the cheesecloth effect. I sprayed the baby wipe with Distress Sprays to give it a foamy feel and added some frantage chips. The background was made with white acrylic paint. 

I'm sending my card over to the following challenges:

Frilly and Funky - Monochrome

Craft Stamper Take it Make it - Use Texture

Anything But Cute - Masculine

Inspired By Stamping - Customer Gallery
Fusion - Inspiration Image 

Thank you all for popping by! PLEASE please pretty please won't you go pop over to Georgie's blog and say hello to her? Let's make her day extra special! 

Watercolored Country - Crafty Gals Corner The Great Outdoors Challenge

The theme over at Crafty Gals Corner this week is: The great outdoors! 

I don't want to say I'm a city girl, because that's probably the farthest thing from the truth, but I will say I am a creature of material comforts. 

I actually grew up on a small hobby farm on 40 acres in Minnesota. In my adult life, however, I moved to the "big city" (read 50,000 people - yes... that's big to me) and I've stuck ever since. I enjoy riding bike, and rollerblading along the river paths, but camping? Count me out.

So when thinking about the great outdoors and going through the images over at Beccy's Place, I came across this image called Old Mailbox. And I just fell in love. 

When I drive home to see my parents, I turn onto this dusty, old country road. There are usually two or three dogs - sprung up from a neighbor's farm - that trail my car. I pull up to my parents' mailbox, which is usually surrounded by tall grass and I drive down the long, tree-lined drive. 

And I just feel at home. 

 

As I was creating this card, those were the thoughts I had in my head. This is WHY I love crafting so much. You can really put a lot of yourself into a creation and your artwork can really express who you are as a person, even though nobody else may ever know it. 

So that's my Great Outdoors story. Thanks for listening!

I'm going to enter my card into the following challenges: 

 Simon Says Stamp Monday: For the Love of Plants

Hiding in My Craft Room - Summer colors

Just Us Girls - Summer

Anywho - back to the challenge. How do you interpret the Great Outdoors? Come on over to Crafty Gals Corner and show us! 

We have >>3<< sponsors this week, which means >>3<< prizes!

DeeDee's Digi's

Prize: $15 Gift Certificate

\

My Besties
Etsy /  Scrapbook Stamp Society

Prize: 3 of Digital Images the DT used

Beccy's Place

Prize: 3 Digital Images or 1 Digital Set

Double the Blog Hops! Coffee Loving Cardmakers and Pretty Pink Posh

So today, I'm trying to see if I can break the internet. Forget about Kim Kardashian, this post combines TWO of the biggest blog hops this side of the interwebs. I actually have 3 cards to share today, so rather than creating 3 separate posts, I combined two of them. 

Make sure you don't miss the >>STAMPLORATIONS CHALLENGE<< post I made earlier.

First up, I'm going to talk about the Coffee Loving Cardmakers Blog Hop which starts today and runs through the end of the week. The energizer-bunny-in-human-form (a.k.a. Amy Tsurata) puts on this show 4 times a year and it is BIG! And has lots of fun prizes. There are 32 different sponsors! Whaaaat?!

I'm going to say sorry-not-sorry in advance, because my coffee lover's card is a little... steamy - and I ain't talking about the beverage. To incorporate summer into my card, I decided to go with a carnival theme - because what screams summertime more than a carnival?

While on a quest for coffee-themed stamps, I stumbled upon the Coffee Cups Lady from Viva Las Vegas stamps and I could. not. resist! Haha. I died of laughter right there and dreamt up all sorts of snarky sentiments to go along with it. 

In the end, this is the one that won out. 

"One Lump or Two?" Haha. So, sorry not sorry because I kind of think it's hilarious and just on the edge of appropriate.  

I'm going to enter this into:
Fashionable Stamping Challenge - Use a Person

All the papers are from Bo Bunny's Carnival Collection. 

Next up, I'm going to share a card I made for the Pretty Pink Posh watercolor-themed blog hop. They also have a ton of dreamy watercolor inspiration up, suggested products, and great tutorials! 

For my card, I used the Simon Says Stamp Thinking of You set to stamp a half-circle of flowers. Then, I used some gelatos to create a watercolory effect. 

Using gelatos to watercolor is easy peasy. In my case, I scribbled some on to a clear block, wet my paint brush and picked up a little color.  

Then I created a rainbow of a watercolor card and added some sequins from the Pretty Pink Posh Springtime Mix, which just so happened to coordinate perfectly with the colors in my card. It's like I planned that, or something. ;) 

Ta daaaa!!

This card is also going over to Virginia's View - Ombre challenge.

Whew! I know that's a lot to throw at you in one post, but here's the last thing you have to know:

I have BLOG CANDY!!

Candy Includes:

Mixed Media Flowers from the Paper Studio

Grand Bazaar embellishments from Basic Grey

An EXCLUSIVE STAMPlorations stamp set

Cracked Pistachio Distress Ink

Chevron ribbon from Pretty Pink Posh

 There are three ways to get earn an entry-

 you can do one, or all three:

1. Follow my blog (new or old followers will get one entry)

2. Comment on this blog post

3. Comment on my STAMPlorations Blog Post

Thanks for popping by!

Mixed Media Card with Washi - STAMPlorations June Challenge

This may be my favorite card I've ever made. Yes. That is a big statement. 

The challenge going on over at STAMPlorations is Stamps and Washi Tape. 

For some reason, washi always makes me think messy mixed media... oh darn... I HATE that. *Snicker*

First, I applied a layer of gesso to a piece of deep red card stock, let it dry, and then sprayed it with a concentrated burst of Festive Berries and Black Soot Distress Inks. 

Once that was dry, I added some layers of black and white washi tape, and some grungy stamps from the Mixed Media Grunge set. 

I added a black doily, some more grunge around the edges and one of the birds from 

SmallBirds - The Bee's Knees. To give the bird a more charcoally effect, I used Faber Castell Artist Pens and smudged as I went along the lines.  I also drew some sketchy circles using the same pens. 

Yeah - pretty much in love. 

This card is going over to the following challenges: 

Mixed Media Card Challenge - Collage

Mixed Media Monthly Challenge (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!) (I'm choosing birds of a feather)

Quoth the Raven - Picture Inspiration

Make sure to play along over at STAMPlorations!! You have until the end of the month and we've got great prizes, along with some awesome guest designers, including Rahmat Gouse and Carol Dunham!

Thanks for taking the time to pop by! 

Summertime Fun - Crafty Gals Corner

Summer. In my neck of the woods, that time of the year lasts for exactly the blink of an eye. And yet, that one blink of a second is the most glorious, sushiney, warmth-filled moment of bliss. 

Over at Crafty Gals Corner, we are celebrating summer with cards! Since one of my favorite symbols of summer is the monarch butterfly, that's what I chose to focus on this week. 

I got to use a gorgeous digi stamp from Eureka Stamps called Butterfly and Sunflower. I paired it with a color scheme I hadn't used before - Orange, yellow, and blue. I thought it looked really summery but then I showed it to my boyfriend for the post-make assessment and he said "Wow. Very Autumny." *Facepalm* Well.... I tried! Haha

I used this awesome sketch from The Challenge

to inspire my layout. 

And the color challenge from ColorQ

I'm also entering it into:

Addicted to Stamps and More - Make your Mark

  So come and get summery with us this week at Crafty Gals Corner. 

We have an awesome prize for you: 

Eureka Stamps

Prize: 3 Digital Images

Thanks for popping by!

Fashionable Card - STAMPlorations Sketch Challenge

Well this post is going to be a little quick and dirty which is waaaaaay off base for me. But it's been a long weekend and I'm just barely skipping in with my newest card for the 

STAMPlorations Sketch challenge. 

Isn't this lady funky funky cool? She's the hip chick from the CityGirl stamp set designed by Shirley Bampton. STAMPlorations has added two new stamp designers this year and Shirley specializes in sketchy whimsical designs with her line, The Bee's Knees.

Here's the sketch:

This sketch was slightly different than my normal style because there was a lot of white space. But hey - when given white space, you can always splash it up, right? Which is exactly what I did! I made a colorful strip by using some gelatos and then stamped some city names into it. Then I splashed around onto the white space. 

I paper pieced CityGirl's trench coat using some paper from the DCWV Haute Pink paper pack. All in all I think it's graphic and wicked cool. I'm pleased.

I'm sending this over to the following challenges:
613 Avenue Create - ATG with Subway Art option
Just Us Girls - Paper Piecing


The STAMPlorations sketch challenge runs for the ENTIRE MONTH! Woohooo! So make sure you play along because we've got some FAB-o prizes to give away AND you could win a guest design spot, too!